Yasin Malik, Six Others to Face Trial as NIA Court Orders Charges in Money Laundering Case
A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi has ordered that charges be framed against Yasin Malik, the chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), and six other accused in a money laundering case. The order moves the matter to the next stage of the criminal process, in which the court will formally put the allegations to the accused and begin recording evidence.
Framing of charges is a procedural step, not a verdict. It means the court has examined the material placed before it by the prosecution and is satisfied that there are sufficient grounds to proceed to a full trial. Under Indian law, every accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and the burden of establishing the allegations rests with the prosecution throughout.
The case is being tried under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. Investigations under the Act are carried out by the Enforcement Directorate, which is empowered to attach assets alleged to be proceeds of crime and to file a prosecution complaint before a designated special court. Such complaints rest on an underlying predicate offence — here, a first information report registered by the NIA. It is the special court hearing the Enforcement Directorate's complaint that decides whether charges should be framed.
Malik, who is in his late fifties, has been in custody since April 2019, when he was arrested in connection with a separate NIA investigation into terror funding in the Kashmir Valley. In May 2022, a Delhi court convicted him in that case after he pleaded guilty to charges that included offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The money laundering proceedings stem from the same wider investigation but are legally separate from the terror funding case. The Enforcement Directorate's complaint alleges that funds collected in the name of charitable activity were moved through a network of accounts and applied to purposes other than those for which they were declared. The court's order on framing of charges is the next formal step in that separate proceeding.
The order names six other accused. The full text of the order, including the specific provisions invoked against each accused, is awaited.
Cases arising out of Jammu and Kashmir's long-running conflict have been the subject of sustained legal and political debate. Indian courts have consistently held that such matters must be decided on the basis of evidence placed on record, and that the judicial process should be allowed to run its course. Accused persons retain the right to contest the allegations, to be represented by counsel, and to appeal against any adverse finding.
Money laundering cases in India have drawn attention in recent years because of the wide powers the PMLA gives to investigating agencies, including the power to attach property and the stringent conditions for bail. The Supreme Court has, on several occasions, examined the scope of these powers and has underlined the need for procedural fairness and for trials to conclude within a reasonable time.
Once charges are framed, the trial court will proceed to record the prosecution's evidence, followed by the defence. The timeline for the trial has not been indicated in the order. Proceedings in the terror funding case, meanwhile, continue separately, with Malik serving the sentence handed down in 2022.
This report will be updated as further details of the order become available.
